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DOJ charges attorney with bribery involving LA water and power utility

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RECORD

Thursday, November 21, 2024

DOJ charges attorney with bribery involving LA water and power utility

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Ethics attorney Josiah Young wasn’t shocked to hear that a former top executive of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge last week, but the city’s role in the alleged scandal did.

The charges emerged after an investigation into the city’s management of the utility’s billing system, according to media reports.

“What surprises me is the corruption from the city,” Young said. “I know there's corruption but there are allegations that attorneys from the city's attorney's office, working with Paul Paradis, tried to get him to settle these suits.”

While Paul O. Paradis, a 58-year old attorney, plead guilty to a bribery charge, David H. Wright, 62, a former Los Angeles Department of Water and Power general manager, admitted to Department of Justice allegations that he accepted bribes in exchange for supporting a $30 million, no-bid contract with the utility company.

Wright worked at the utility for nearly three years.

“We, the public, put our trust in the government, the agencies and in the stewards of our government to not do this type of thing but there was apparently corruption there and also in the Department of Power and Water,” Young told the Southern California Record. “You're seeing people who are taking bribes and kickbacks. That's what's shocking to me. I'm not surprised because we've heard this story before but I'm shocked because it betrays the public's confidence.”

Paradis, who founded the Paradis Law Firm in Manhattan, allegedly accepted an illegal payment of some $2.2 million for persuading another attorney to collusively represent his ratepayer client in a legal action against LADWP, according to a press release issued by the DOJ.

“What I expect now is to see more charges potentially coming if the FBI investigates and they can unearth details about what was happening in the LA Department of Power and Water and also in the city's attorney's office,” Young said. “There may be more to shake out. There may be more to come for the Ohio attorney in criminal charges. The next natural outflowing is the bar will be dealing with this attorney and any attorney who deals with the public in this way.”

According to the DOJ, Paradis recruited an attorney in Ohio to represent a plaintiff in an allegedly pre-settled lawsuit against the city that would have netted Paradis 20% of the Ohio’s attorney fees as a clandestine kickback. The Ohio attorney has not yet been identified.

“They thought they were going to be able to hide behind those transactions but I think everyone always has to remember, whether they are involved in corruption, or business or in legal issues, that when you create a paper trail, that's going to be discoverable,” Young added.

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